Big Picture of the Bible

Imperfect People Used By God

Lorna Nichols - Monday, February 06, 2012

Have you heard people say that Christians are self-righteous? Judgmental? Critical of others? Gossips? Surely not you. Well, sometimes we are so busy trying to be good Christians that we start comparing ourselves to others. Or perhaps, we criticize others to make ourselves feel better about what’s going on in our own lives. If you were perfect, then you could have given YOUR life for the sins of the world. The point I'm making is that there are no perfect people so why do we expect perfection in others? Note that Jesus didn't say come to me all that are perfect and lightly laden.

But, because we're not perfect, Jesus invites us to lay our burdens on Him. If we were perfect, we wouldn't need Jesus. The nice thing about a fairy tale is they begin with “Once upon a time” and end with “and they lived happily ever after.” Who has a life like that? But, God uses imperfect people.

Take David, who was a murder and an adulterer. What a dysfunctional family he had. But, David repented and truly loved God. Samson is criticized for losing focus and acting foolishly with the power of God. But, in the end, Samson knew to call on God. Martha wasn't focused on Jesus and thought other things were more important. And, Paul, was abrupt, a wretch, had a temper, and persecuted the church. These are a few imperfect people that God used.

So, how do we validate our criticism of others? Jesus loves people despite their imperfections, faults, or weaknesses. People matter to Him. Romans 11:36 says, “For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory.” If we live our lives with intentions of bringing glory to God, we don't have to be perfect. He can use our imperfections and those of others to draw people to Himself.

Pretty nice post. I simply stumbled upon your blog and wanted to mention that I've really loved surfing around your blog posts. After all I will be subscribing on your feed and I'm hoping you write again very soon!